1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety devices for tubing fittings used on gas lines. More particularly, the invention relates to devices for marking fittings on gas tubing conveying potentially dangerous gases.
2. Prior Art
Many different industries utilize several different gases at a single work station. These gases are normally supplied from cylinders, tanks or bottles and are connected to a panel or cabinet by stainless steel tubing. Compression fittings are used to connect the tubing to the panel and cylinder, and to sometimes make connections along the length of the tubing.
Depending upon the industry and the particular work station, the gases connected to the panel can be relatively safe and inert, such as nitrogen and helium, or can be dangerous and toxic, such as silane.
Since all of the lines and fittings are identical, there is no way to tell what type of gas is in a line without having some type of external labelling system or tracing the line back to its source. The most common labelling system is simply a piece of tape wrapped around each line on which is written the identification of the gas in the line. This type of labelling has several shortcomings and disadvantages. For example, the adhesive on the tape often dries up and the label falls off. Additionally, writing on the label can become faded or washed off so that the identity of the gas in the line is not known. Thus, a technician adjusting the fittings cannot easily determine whether the gas in the line is inert or dangerous without tracing the line back to its source. Accordingly, if the technician accidently confuses one or more lines, he could inadvertently open a dangerous line.
Because of the dangerous nature of some of the gases used in industry, it is clear that there is a need for a means to identify fittings on potentially dangerous gas lines to prevent their accidental or inadvertent opening. It would be a significant advancement if such a device were relatively inexpensive, easy to use and readily identifiable. Such an apparatus is disclosed and claimed herein.